Diamond Carat Weight Shouldn’t be Confused with Size
| By Jonathan ~ April 23rd, 2009 ~ Wedding Jewelry | Comments Off |
photo: yourloosediamonds.com
By now you probably know that diamonds are measured by carats. The more carats, the bigger the diamond. (This isn’t to be confused with karats, which is a measure for purity of gold). If you’re curious to know where these funny words come from, it’s from the weight of a carob fruit. Apparently, that used to be a good way to measure things back in the day.
So here comes the important subtlety: Carats are a measure of weight, not visual size.
A diamond can be “fat” in the middle, have a heavy weight and high carat measurement, but still look small from the top. When looking at round diamonds (about 65% of the diamonds we sell), ask about the millimeter measurements. For a one carat diamond, for example, the ideal width is 6.5 millimeters. Typically, a certificate will give you the measurements across the top of the diamond, from top to bottom, and also side by side. So you’ll want a perfectly circular, 6.5 X 6.5 mm diamond, not a skewed 6.5 X 5.5 mm diamond.
When you’re at a jeweler, remember that it’s visual size that you’re looking for, not weight. .jpg)
